For those unfamiliar with Loom, it’s important to know that Forge is set in a world where mankind has segregated themselves into City-States according to the trade each individual has chosen or been born into.

LoomLoom put the player in control of a young man named Bobbin Threadbare, member of the Guild of Weavers. The guild’s numbers had dwindled to less than 40; and in that small community, Bobbin was an outcast.

In the audio drama included with the game, it was revealed that Bobbin had been a stillborn, and his mother, Cygna Threadbare, had used the power of the Weavers’ Great Loom to force her lost son back into the timeline of the world. Though the act gave her child new life, her boy’s stray thread caused the fabric of reality to begin fraying. For selfishly misusing the Loom, Cygna was banished from her homeland and exiled into the afterlife.

As Bobbin grew up over the next 17 years, the discord his mother had triggered continued to spread. The songs of the Shepherds grew silent, and even the Weavers’ own mystic talents began to fail. When Bobbin finally left the Weavers’ island, he found himself caught up in a mad cleric’s attempts to tear asunder the failing boundaries between the realms of the living and dead.

While the crazed Bishop Mandible did succeed in opening a rift, he didn’t get the undead army he’d wanted. Instead, Chaos entered through the breech, an evil entity from beyond the Pattern of reality. Under Chaos’ direction, the legions of the dead began to overrun the living realm as Bobbin attempted to close the portals between the worlds.

In the final showdown, Bobbin was forced to wield his Distaff against the Great Loom itself, unmaking it before Chaos could discover and corrupt its secrets. Through the rift he’d created in the Loom, Bobbin escaped into the afterlife.

Though Chaos’ plans for the Loom were foiled, the game still ended on a bittersweet note. Though Bobbin swore to mend the Pattern and rescue those left behind, every soul in the real world was left trapped under Chaos’ reign.

Forge: Loom SequelOf those left in the real world, arguably the most impacted guild was that of the Blacksmiths, whose home, The Forge, was converted into Chaos’ primary fortress. Bobbin had met (and accidentally screwed over) a member of the Blacksmiths in his travels, one Wellwrought “Rusty” Nailbender. Thanks to Bobbin’s lack of forethought, Rusty happened to be dead when his home was overrun. Thankfully, Bobbin healed Rusty before the final confrontation with Chaos, thus making the latter one of the few Blacksmiths left free in the world.

Our game follows Rusty, who has taken it upon himself to rescue his family and home. Along the way he will meet a mix of eccentric characters from a variety of fantastic guilds, with all the charm that made Loom so enjoyable. The Guild of Miners, The Order of Woodcutters, the Guild of Florists, and the Guild of Vintners will each have a part to play in Rusty’s adventure, just to name a few.

Trying to find assistance from unfamiliar guilds, dodging enemies, and overcoming an army of the dead is a lot for one young man to attempt. Think he’ll manage it?